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Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition - hands on

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Join the expedition and see what you can expect from Lara Croft's origin tale.

The beginning of the legend

Before the cultural icon, there was just an ordinary girl. Jump into the brutal origin story of Lara Croft - the new archaeology graduate setting off on her first expedition with a team to the ancient island of Yamatai. At Lara's command, the intrepid explorers enter the dangerous waters of Dragon's Triangle in search of the lost isle.

But something is amiss. A storm rages and all but wrecks their ship - the Endurance, smashing it into the cliffs. And it's not only the island that's out to get them; its crazed inhabitants are on the hunt - if the group are caught, the results will be brutal. Can you step into the boots of Lara Croft to find her shipwrecked crew as well as a way off this mysterious rock?

Lara, like you've never seen before

Witness the graphical capability of PlayStation 4 with a younger, sleeker Lara that has been completely remodelled for Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. Marvel at every speck of dirt on her clothes and skin, the way the light from a flaming torch flickers across her expressions, even the way each arrow in her quiver shakes as you run.

Once you've caught your breath, have a look around the stunning environments. Each location has a camp that you can use as a fast travel point - you'll want to fast travel to make it a little easier to track down every collectable item you may have missed along the way.

The island itself transforms from treacherous danger to a perilous playground you can navigate with ease as you upgrade your equipment and improve your skills. Leaping from zipline to zipline is not only the fastest way down from a cliff - it's also a blast!

Guerrilla warfare

Learn fast if you want to survive. Immediately after Lara's deadly shipwreck, you have little more than a makeshift bow. It doesn't take long before you gather supplies - hunting for scraps to build and upgrade your equipment so that you can take the fight back to the madmen that control the island.

During your mission to track down your friends, you quickly shift from taxing puzzles to engrossing combat, in-between leaping and zipping up cliff faces and through thick jungle. The island throws something new at you around every corner, and keeps you gasping as you fight through the main story mode.

If you pay attention to every detail, there's plenty to get a kick out of in Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. Swipe the touch pad of the DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller to fire up your flaming torch before glancing down at the lightbar to see the lights flicker along with the in-game flame.

With the PlayStation Camera or a microphone plugged into the DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller you can also shout out special voice commands to navigate menus and switch between weapons and ammunition types to take down enemies even more quickly.

Island warfare

Multiplayer gives you four game types to choose from: Team Death Match, Rescue, Cry for Help and Free for All. Every game except Free for All pits Survivors - those on Lara's ship the Endurance - against Scavengers - the Solarii Brotherhood, with players alternating between sides.

Team Death Match is a round-based, four-versus-four game. The first team to get 25 kills or to have the most kills at the end of the final round wins.

Rescue mode sees Scavengers trying to stop Survivors from returning five medical packs to their base in order to win the game. Scavengers win if they earn 20 kills, though Survivors have a limited amount of time to revive injured teammates.

Cry for Help has Survivors activating radio transmitters while the Scavengers try to steal their batteries. And in Free for All mode you're on your own and must simply kill the most players before time runs out to win the game.

Each playable character has different abilities, though the more powerful ones must be unlocked by earning experience points that in turn open up higher levels.